Gerber Onesies

Gerber makes a darn good onesie. Not only are they comfortable and soft, but they're pretty durable. Made of 100% cotton, my favorite material, every Gerber onesie has made it through wash after wash without shrinking or losing any snaps. I've already had more than one snap-on button fall off other brand name onesies in the spin cycle. It's nice to see some quality and affordability in a brand name.

Organic diapers are...well....kind of lousy!

Desperately seeking non-yucky rice cereal...

The search continues for a rice cereal that won't give Charlotte a case of the cringes. I've tried more makes and brands than I can count. It's the same sour-faced story with each one. I recently made the move to an organic brown rice cereal. It seems to have a better consistency when I mix it, but, judging from Charlotte's scrunched up face, the taste is no better. Is there such a thing as a decent tasting rice cereal, or must I put Charlotte through this hell until the dawn of the Oatmeal era begins?

Baby powder vs. baby lotion

So I've turned against landslide tradition and have never once used baby powder. I use organic lotion on Charlotte's bottom, and give her a light all-over coating after bath time. I'm huge on the whole organic, natural thing. My husband has got some darn awful allergies, and turned me on to this. Natural products hardly ever seem to bother him, so being a paranoid mother, I figure this is the safest route for Charlotte. A lot of baby powders are scented, and I worry especially about a reaction to the scents. What exactly are in these scents? Of course not all baby powers are specially scented, but if they aren't, they've got that smell we all know. And then I wonder, how the heck do they make that smell? What exactly's in this stuff? It's pretty hard to find an all natural baby powder. It's a chemically derived substance, after all. Have people been using baby powder on baby's tushies since the dawn of time? Sure. Have babies been getting rashes and reactions down there for just as long? You betcha. So whose to say baby powder is the go-to-product for a chafe free baby bottom? So I found a lotion with all natural ingredients (I can list the brand name, but have tried several and they all work about as well. None of them are really "stand-outs.") Charlotte has not had a single rash. She tolerates a soiled diaper exceptionally well, so she's got to be pretty comfortable down there. My mother-in-law thinks I'm out of my gourd for not using baby powder. But the lotion works awesome, and it's all natural. I say, skip the powder. A lubricated heinee is a happy heinee.

Raising baby: Modern Vs. Old School

My husband's parents immigrated here from Poland. They're awesome, for the record, but I've got to say they're a bit traditional (nice way of saying really old-fashioned.) Mom-in-law has baby-sitted Charlotte more than once. We've had a battle of wills-or lets call it a differing opinion-regarding what Charlotte can and can't eat and drink. She suggested I give Charlotte cereal right away, just weeks after she was born. I chose to keep Charlotte away from solids until she hit the four month mark. My mummy-in-law keeps recommending tea now. I'm against it, having of course read the books and read the websites screaming that this is a no-no (caffeine, hidden sugars, diuretic.) Her response is that her doctor actually recommended she give tea to my hubby when he was an infant. Never mind that this was well over thirty years ago, and perhaps baby care has changed. Being a new mommy, I try my best to stick with modern advice. Sometimes I wonder, though, if the advice isn't any more than the newest fad. A few years from now, tea might be back in. Anyhoo, I'm just wondering if anyone uses old-fashioned methods for taking care of baby that was passed down from their mom or grandma that actually works better than the "new way."

Giving a bow to an HBO Family Series - Classical Baby

Ok-I blabbed on and on about how CGI movies hold Charlotte's attention, but here's one show I recently found that she just adores. It's called Classical Baby, and if you've got the HBO Family Channel I recommend you keep an eye out for it, because it pops up from time to time on my channel guide during the day. This is a fabulous show! (I'm not affiliated with HBO or the Classical Baby show in any way.) The premise is cute: A litte baby stands on a podium and plays maestro, entertaining an audience filled with some very cheerful and VERY animated animals. In each episode, the little baby cues the band, and the theatre curtains draw back to reveal animals and objects of all sorts, dancing and even occasionally singuing in tune to classic music and art. The show has made me notice how much Charlotte likes string instruments. Any compilation featuring a violin is definitely her favorite. It's a great way of exposing a baby to the classics, and it's compiled in such a way that there's always a lot of stimulating stuff going on. The animals in the audience also react in very cute ways. If anyone happens to catch this show, please let me know what they think!

Pixar Movies = Good for baby!

My little girl Charlotte recently enjoyed her four month birthday, just reaching the point where distant objects have turned majestically visible. In fact, anything moving is now subject to seconds of deep scrutiny. I've been positioning her upright on my lap off and on since I can remember, so she could watch television with me. Not to worry-kid's stuff only!!! But even back when the television screen no doubt represented only a loud, confusing mass of chaos, I noticed that one viewing experience kept her still on my lap. Was it a cartoon? Was it a kid's show with costumed dancers and frenetic puppets? No, fellow mommies. It was a CGI movie, a Pixar production to be exact. I just want to say for the record I'm not affiliated with Pixar in any way, but I've just got to gab about their mesmerizing affects on my little munchkin. She's been hypnotized by every CGI (kid oriented) movie we've watched. One might assume the playful shapes and colors of a cartoon would be king to a child, but Pixar's three dimensional animation makes the characters pop from the screen. Now that she's older she even cooes at them sometimes. If you want to share some stimulating tv time with your little one, even if the're barely past the second month, I recommend trying out a CGI movie (Pixar seems to work the best for my baby, but I'm not ruling out any others.) You may be pleasantly surprised!